Car-enumerating device



M. s. PHILLIPS.

CAR ENUMERATING DEVICE- 1.,4:21,023' APPLICATION HLED AUG. I5, 1919. PatentedJune 27 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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I CAR ENUMERATING DEVICE.

' APPLICATION FILED AUG.I5, 1919. Y 1,421,023, 7 Patented June 27, 1922.

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MEELLSS. PHILLIPS, OF TACOMA, WASHINGTON.

CAR-ENUMERATING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 2'7, 1922.

Application filed August 15, 1919. Serial No. 317,765.

tains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to registering. de vices and while particularly applicable to car enumerating devices is not limlted thereto. 4

An object ofthis invention-is to provide a means for counting cars as theygo in at one end of a siding.

A further object of this invention is to provide a means so that anengineer 1n entering a siding will immediately know the number of cars already in said siding and an engineer, conductor orswitchman on leaving the siding cani-nsta-ntly ascertain from the other end the number of cars in said s1ding and by looking at'the dial can also instantly seewhether another'crew is working upon the same siding from the other end.

A further object of this invention is to provide a meansfor counting the cars both going in and coming out and subtractmg those going in one way in order to keep a positive record. I

A further object of this invention is to be able to enumerate the cars left standing on a side track without the delay of the switchingcrew.

A further object of this invention is to enable the-brakeman on a dark and cloudy day or in the-night time to see how much room there is to store cars on each siding.

A further object of the invention is to (provide a danger signal showing when cars on a siding are not left in the clear.

A further object of this invention. is to register cars in going into the car Ebarns while passing'over certain tracks'and to provide means for recording and {noting the number o-fycars at an extreme distance from the station.

With these and other objectsi-n view the present invention.comprises certain novel construction, iconibination and arrangement of parts such as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the drawing,'

Figure l is a view of'the apparatus looking on the dial face and also showing its remote connection to car rail.-

Figure 2 isa side .view of an ordinary car rail showing the means of attachment of this apparatus thereto.

Figure ,3 is a longitudinal cross section of the registeringportion taken diametrically through the dial. I i Figure 4: is a .rear elevation of the registeringportion.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of the indicators in a series.

Like characters of reference indicate C01- responding parts throughout the several views.

The present invention is disclosed in the drawing as comprising. a. dial 1 rotatable and carrying at the other end of iash-aftQ a gear 7 co-meshing with a corresponding gear 6, thesaid gear 6 on a shaft '6- actuated by ratchets 3 and 4c, fixed thereon, the said ratchets being set inreversed relation, one ofrsaid ratchets rotating. the shaft 6 in one direction and the other of said ratchets rotating the shaft in the other. direction. A retention wheel 23 is fixedly mounted on shaft6 and engaged by a spring contact 24 to prevent free rotationof theshaft. Angular'pawls 10 and 10 are pivoted one on each side of'the dial to arms 10 and 10 which are in turn pivoted on shaft 6 so that pawls 10 and 10' can engage the ratchets=4 and 3, respectively, on opposite sides. These .pawls are normally out of engagement with the ratchets, but are thrown into engagement by means of rods 11 connecting them to slidable cores in the electromagnets -8 and 8. The dial has upon its face an index finger 19. It is obvious that this arrangement may be re,- versed and the index finger may be rotated and the dial kept in fixed relation. Coils 8 and 8 are connected. by separate current wires 12 and 12 to springs 13 and 13' and also by acommon wire-=l2" to a com-moncone 17 in an upright position. Springs 13 and 13 and also common conductor 15 are in the.

path of roller 1%. Roller 1 1 is an electrical conductor.

Coil 8 is connected by wire 12 with contact member 13. Coil 8 is connected by wire 12 with contact member 13. Coils 8 and 8 have a common complementary circuit wire 12" leading to common conductor 15. When roller 14E is swung over against spring 13 until roller 14 touches also. common conductor 15 it closes a circuit throughroller 1 1 from members 13 and 15 and from wires 12 and 12" leading respectively to members 13 and 15. hen roller 14: is swung over in the reverse direction against spring 13 until roller 14L touches common conductor 15 it closes a circuit through roller 14: from members 13 and 15 and from wires 12 and 12" leading respectively to members 13 and 15. iVhen the circuit is closed through wire 12 and wire 12 it energizes coil 8 to operate pawl 10 and turns the dial 1 counterclockwise. vVhen the circuit is closed through wire 12 and wire 12" it energizes coil 8 to operate pawl 10 and turns dial 1 clockwise.

As for instance when the roller 14; is

swung against spring 13 to contact with conductor 15 it makes the dial register in one direction; when it is thrown against 13 and conductor 15, it makes the dial rotate and register in the other direction. This enables the adding and subtracting of cars. As for instance when a car passes over rail 18 contact of the car wheels upon the rotor 17 causes the contactpoint 1 1 to swing over in the direction in which the car is going and come in contact with spring 13 and conduc tor 15. This will cause the dial to indicate the number of wheels which have gone over in that direction. If. on the other hand, the cars go back in the reverse direction, the rotor 1 1 is swung over to contact with spring 13 and conductor 15 and the dial rotated in the reverse manner thereby subtracting the numbers of cars going in the reverse direction. This gives a positive record of all cars left upon the siding or other place where the record is desired to be kept.

\Vhen used in a series I use a slightly different mechanism as shown in Figure Instead of common conductor 15 I use a pair of springs 15 and 15 or 15? 15 similar to springs 13 and 13. These may be superposed of springs 13 and 13 or set in the same relation as common conductor 15 is shown in Fi ures 1 and 2. If superposed then the relation is such that roller 14 when function as aconductor as in the arrangement shown in Figures 1 and 2. \Vhen one register is used at each end of a siding and it is desired to record the ingoing cars from either or both ends as positive and the ou going as negative, similar coils for respective registers are connected to similar poles illustrated by current wire 12 connecting coil 8 of the register at the left with coil 8 of the register at the right and current wire 12 connecting coil 8 with coil 8 of the respective registers. The other poles of these coils are similarly connected by current wires 12" and 12 lVire 12 also connects with and joins springs 15 and 15 lVire 12 also extends to a pole of a battery 12. From the other pole of battery 12 extends a wire 12 which connects with spring 13 of the mechanism shown at the left and spring 13 of the mechanism shown at .the. right. Current wire12 similarly extends to a pole of a battery 12* from the other pole of which battery extends a current wire 12*. Current wire 12 connects with and oins springs 13 of the mechanism shown at the left with spring 13 of that shown at the right. Wire 12 also connects with and joins springs 15 and 15 Thus when a car enters a siding from the side at the right of Figure 5 it causes roller 1 1 to swing to the left and close a circuit through springs 15 and the spring 13 at the right. This closes a circuit through battery 12 and energizes coils 8 to rotate dial 1 clockwise. The same effect would he had by a car entering from the side shown at the left of the drawing by closing a circuit through springs 13 and 15. A negative effect would be had by a car passing from the middle outward in either direction as such car if passing to the left would close a circuit through springs 13 and 15" or if passing to the right from the middle would close a circuit through springs 13 and 15. Closing either of these last named circuits would cause battery 0 to energize coils 8 to rotate dials 1 counterclockwise. Not only is this dual arrangement valuable in recording the actual number of cars on a siding whether taken in from one end or the other but also it enables a crew entering at or working at one end of a siding to determine just what is going on at the other end. By varying the wiring connections I can further use this device in a series as an efficient block signal system.

What I claim is:

An electrical contact maker comprising in combination with a car rail, of a shaft ex means secured to the contact roller eccentric and pivoted above and in a vertical plane 10 passing through the shaft controlling said shaft to maintain said rocking roller in a normally elevated position.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

MILLS S. PHILLIPS. 

